How do I apply for the EB-5 program if I’m currently a dual citizen?

I am currently a dual citizen of Spain and Korean, but am looking to make an EB-5 investment in order to become a U.S. citizen. What should I do to make myself eligible for the EB-5 program? Must a denounce one citizenship (either from Spain or Korea)? Since EB-5 visas have a ceiling on acceptances based on nationality, under which nation’s citizenship (Spain or Korea) should I invest under?

Answers

No need to renounce any of your citizenships. You will still remain a citizen of those two countries. The EB-5 program is for permanent residency, not citizenship. After you have been a permanent resident for five years, you have the option to consider applying for U.S. citizenship and we can discuss this at that time. The U.S. recognizes dual citizenship, but not every other country does, so you would need to check with the embassy for the other countries at that time to make sure you can maintain that citizenship.

John J Downey

Immigration Attorney

Answered onAugust 26, 2014

The United States does not require you to give up your foreign citizenship, however, Korea may. Check on the availability of visas from each country from the U.S. Department of State.

You do not need to denounce one of your citizenships in order to apply to an EB-5. Please note that when you apply for an EB-5 you will be applying for a conditional lawful permanent residency status and not U.S. citizenship. You can only apply for U.S. citizenship after you have been a lawful permanent resident for five years. Also, in reference to which passport you should use to apply, you can use either one. Spain and Korea do not have any issues with the immigrant visas available currently.

You are free to apply for the EB-5 visa. Upon approval of your I-526 petition, assuming you are otherwise eligible for EB-5, you will apply for an immigrant visa to the United States through the consular process to become a conditional permanent resident of the United States for two years (not a U.S. citizen) or adjust status in the United States to that of a conditional permanent resident (if you are in the United States in another lawful immigration status at the time your I-526 petition is approved). You will then be required to remove conditions to receive a permanent green card in two years. You should be eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship in four years and nine months after being granted your conditional permanent resident status. Currently, it does not matter whether you are a citizen of Spain or Korea. There is no backlog in immigrant visas for EB-5 investors. A backlog is only expected for Chinese nationals.

When you are being processed for an EB-5 Immigrant Investor visa, you are applying to be a lawful permanent resident of the United States, not a U.S. citizen. So, you can still maintain your dual citizenship. Currently, there is no waiting period based on nationality for EB-5 processing.

When you initially apply through the EB-5 program you are getting a residency in the United States, not citizenship. You will eventually be eligible for citizenship and at that time you can determine whether you need to relinquish either your Spanish or Korean citizenship.

Thank you for your inquiry. You do not need to renounce either of your citizenships. Whether you apply as a Spanish or Korean national should not make any difference (the only expected backlog is for Chinese nationals).

You do not give up your citizenship until you apply to become an U.S. citizen approximately five years after obtaining the permanent residency through EB-5. As to per country quota for immigrant visa, Spanish or Korean citizenship all falls under the worldwide quota and is the same for either.

Currently, all EB-5 visa categories are current and only China has the remote possibility of retrogression in the future. Planning for consular processing will be required, as your approved I-526 would be forwarded to a U.S. consulate in your home country, but you can designate which you would like to use. Only when applying for U.S. citizenship (many years down the road) would your current citizenship(s) possibly be relevant.

Dual citizenship should not disqualify or prejudice your chances of obtaining an EB-5 visa, as I have worked with dual citizens in the past. Please consult an EB-5 attorney to better assist you during the process.

It does not matter that you are a dual citizen because you are applying for permanent residence. The possible backlog would be for those born in China since Chinese are the biggest user of the EB 5 category.

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